Why Finn Balor Will End 2019 as the Most Over Wrestler

WWE apparently recruited Finn Balor based on his excellent performance in NJPW as the leader of The Bullet Club. He single-handedly took the whole division to the heights it had never seen before. He went on to have a stellar run as the top star in NXT and was the top contender to get a featured spot on the main roster at the start of the current brand split era. Upon his call-up, he quickly defeated Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to be crowned the original Universal Champion. Everyone was surprised to see the mega push Balor was getting and rightly so, as the only person who got this grand treatment before was Goldberg and it was during the time when most of the current wrestlers and fans were learning to talk to girls for the first time.

Fans genuinely believed that the Universal title would only be given to wrestlers who truly deserves it as the Brock Lesnar's era was still to come. But, unfortunately, Balor injured his shoulder in his match at Summerslam performing a spot and was out for several months. That injury ruined his entire WWE career along with his shoulder.

After returning to WWE in 2017, Balor was continuously booked in the mid-card in boring feuds with the likes of Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, and Bobby Lashley. Even when he got the shot at Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania 34, he never felt like a danger to his opponent. He kept on hovering in the mid-card for the rest of 2018 too. But, then everything changed after TLC 2018. At the pay-per-view, he was scheduled to face Drew McIntyre, who is supposed to be the next big thing in WWE. Everyone including fans and critics thought that Balor was just another victim that the management is using to cement McIntyre's dominance. So, it was naturally shocking for everyone when Balor came out victorious from the match. Although he won that match after interference from Ziggler, but the dominance he showed in that match was exceptional. Then next week he won the triple-threat match against Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre and this time without any outside interference or shenanigans, but with hitting his finisher Coup De Grâce on both of his opponents, thus marking his complete authority over the entire feud. After his return, he was always promoted as a fearless fighter who would give good quality matches on a consistent basis, but he has never been pushed as a 'main-event' star.

This push has been long overdue as he never got the opportunity to go back on top after the return. It is hard to say if he will indeed get the push just after a couple of matches, but if we look at the way WWE has functioned in the last few years, then it is clear that they always go completely in with the push, like with the case of Roman Reigns or Ronda Rousey.

I think that after having a lackluster 2018, 2019 will definitely be remembered as the year of Finn Balor.